Day Lights: Coloring eggs with natural dyes as spring comes

Posted
Thursday, March 14, 2013 9:30 am

By Sharon Smullen, Special to The Eagle

'62 Center

Get into an Irish frame of mind just in time for St. Paddy's Day when the Williams College dance ensemble Inish performs at 8 tonight and Friday at the ‘62 Center in Williamstown. The concerts celebrate the group's 10-year anniversary season with a slate of special appearances that include college alums and returning guest artist dancer and choreographer Allison Fippinger, director of the New York Celtic Dancers.

Throughout the years, with the help of dance, music, storytelling and song, Inish has evoked the deep yearning of Irish emigrants to embrace the age-old traditions of their homeland as they traveled to the new world in search of greater opportunity and a new beginning.

The dancers will be accompanied by live musicians, many performing on traditional instruments such as fiddle, flute and bodhrán drum.

Tickets cost $3 and include a post-performance Céilí party at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. Information: www.62center.williams.edu, (413) 597-2425.

Berkshire Co-op

As spring comes, many kids looks forward to dyeing hard-boiled eggs. But instead of breaking open those ubiquitous bunny-bedecked craft kits filled with plastic cups and dye pellets that appear at this time of year on supermarket shelves across the county, why not let little ones try their hand at using organic materials to create both subtle and bold hues to grace any spring holiday celebration?

On Saturday, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Co-op in Great Barrington as part of the monthly D.I.Y. Kids program, children can experiment with using natural food stuffs, flowers and even leaves to make a wide array of chromatic dyes that can be used to create dazzling eggs decorated with endlessly imaginative color combinations.

In cooking, certain foods such as beets must be handled with care to avoid staining surfaces -- and some colored vegetables produce surprising new tones (picture red cabbage juice turning blue when cooked). So it is not surprising that nature has created many plant parts that have long been appreciated for their ability to transfer color on demand.

Be sure to dress your youngsters in clothing that you don't mind getting messy with the dye stuffs. To sign up, visit the front desk or call (413) 528-9697. Information: www.berkshire.coop.

Images Cinema

As part of its monthly International Family Film Series, Williamstown's independent movie house, Images Cinema, will show "Party Mix," another terrific program from the acclaimed New York International Children's Film Festival of short films from around the world at 10:30 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Kids aged 8 years and up will enjoy a mix of colorful, musical storytelling and documentary titles from North and South America, Europe, and as far away as India and Australia. All the films in the 65 minute program of animated and live action shorts are shown in English or have English subtitles.

The United States documentary "The Dancer" follows an optimistic orphan through the vivid bustling landscape of rural India, while "Dripped" from France imagines Jackson Pollack developing his painting technique by devouring the art styles that came before.

A pair of U.S. animations explore the demise of the Sabertooth House Cat and a young girl's frozen yet heartwarming encounter with a snow fox.

The entertaining Argentinean stop-motion animation "Luminaris" follows a man's idea that could forever change a world controlled by light, while "The Maker" offers a touching look at a puppet creating a companion as the sands of time play out.

Two of the films share a multigenerational theme. The Swiss short "Maximum Boost" finds Remo and his grandmother on a rainy-day journey to the moon, while in the Indian-British Animation "The Storyteller," a young girl makes sure her grandfather's favorite fish tale stays on track.

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